


Goodbye My Love

by Mellowyellowdiamonds



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: But with a happy ending, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Memory Loss, Obviously involves the League of Assassins as all chinese adaptations do because it is so useful, Olicity fic based on the Chinese series Goodbye My Princess, Suicide, a big cry fest, if you do not enjoy dramatic nonsense this fic is not for you, very dramatic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-11
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:53:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22212100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mellowyellowdiamonds/pseuds/Mellowyellowdiamonds
Summary: Bright and bubbly Felicity Smoak opens her heart and takes a chance at love when mysterious fellow agent Oliver Queen unexpectedly enters her life and sweeps her off her feet. However their happiness is short lived and Felicity's world comes crashing down when she realises everything about the man she thought she knew was one elaborate lie.Determined to live her life on her own terms Felicity questions everything around her and fights every step of the way to regain her freedom.
Relationships: Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak
Comments: 35
Kudos: 168





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi Folks!
> 
> I'm back!!!!!!
> 
> So I discovered and became obsessed with the series Goodbye My Princess. To the point where I would watch it and cry. Go back, watch the clips and then cry some more. Have a stressful day, watch it and cry to destress. Yeah I totally went nuts!
> 
> And you know what happens when I go nuts over a series! I adapt it into an Olicity fic! This was a totally ridiculous venture because that series was so melodramatic and VERY far away from anything that remotely resembled an Olicity fic. But I loved it so much I have to write it for myself, to prove that I can do it and to share it with you guys so here we are.
> 
> Warnings: I have to warn you that this is SUPER melodramatic! We are talking about something that would make me ugly cry so just get your head around that. I also have HUGE issues trying to adapt the main characters into Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak. I have tried my best but there will be "out of character-ness" as one can only go so far in trying to preserve canon personalities in an adaptation like this.
> 
> If you can get past that I hope you will go along on this ride with me and enjoy this fic.
> 
> There WILL be a HAPPY ENDING (omg I had to twist my brain for this one as the series ending was super tragic). One of my long suffering readers who reads all my nonsense hates sad endings so I will never write a bad ending for anything that she reads but it does get very dramatic and dire during the story to bear with me.
> 
> ***
> 
> Remember when I wrote Love and Despair and some of you wanted a more fleshed out chapter fic? 
> 
> Hehe well I was going to write this as a quick full story but decided to go chapter fic this time to see where it takes me. I am aiming to have one update every week and aim to finish before I start moving house.
> 
> ***
> 
> Sneak peek: If you are curious about the series and what to expect in future chapters here is a lovely clip of some scenes you can expect to be adapted for Olicity in this fic.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV4MWewn7b8

“Our baby is all grown up,” Lyla coos in an exaggerated fashion as she gives Felicity a final once over before smoothing down a wayward strand of hair.

“Our baby is an analyst and should never be sent in for these things,” John Diggle remarks dryly, as his eyes move uneasily from his wife and the girl he considered to be his baby sister.

“Relax John. I’ve been trained by the best and if you don’t trust that your baddest, bad ass wife has trained me well what hope is there for anyone else in ARGUS?”

Her words served duel purposes. To calm herself as much as they were intended to sooth John. The truth was although there was a part of her that craved something different, to step out of her Analsyt-behind-the-screen box, there was also a teeny tiny nervous voice in the back of her head that had her wondering if she’d gone too far, too soon.

“You go in, you play your role…”

“Flirt, drug them, get the data, plant the bugs and get out,” Felicity finishes Lyla’s sentence for her. She could tell that the other woman was just as uneasy as John, however being an extremely pragmatic person; Lyla saw no point in outwardly showing her worry. Better to just act like everything was going to be fine if everyone did their bit methodically. It was certainly too late to back out now and Felicity was the only person who could get into the premises. They couldn’t very well send Curtis to entice a bunch of Russian mobsters and Felicity had informed them that physical presence was necessary in order to retrieve the data and plant the bugs.

“I promise I will be back and you can both take me out for a chicken kiev when this is all over,” Felicity grins at John in an attempt to cheer him up. “And I look super cute in all the fur hats so this trip wasn’t a complete bust.”

“I’ll have eyes and ears on you the whole time,” John manages a tight smile. “Anything goes wrong and I will come in.”

“Oh please don’t do that right away,” Felicity pleads. “I want to show Waller I can go into the field and handle myself. Don’t come bursting in like an overprotective parent. Waller will never take me seriously again.”

“Waller needs you for your brain which will be useless if you’re dead. Who cares if you can win a gun fight with the Russian mob,” John tells her sternly.

“Guys enough,” Lyla shoots them both an exasperated look. “There will be no gun fight. No one is going to burst in. Standard mission, which Felicity has been trained for. In and out. End of story.”

“Yes Ma’am,” Felicity salutes Lyla solemnly with a twinkle in her eyes.

***

_I can do this, I am a badass assassin, hear me roar_ Felicity tells herself as she sashays into the room swinging her hips just a little, aware that five pairs of eyes were now on her.

_A very short, sort of assassin but still an assassin nevertheless. Actually can one even be an assassin if one has never killed anyone before? Did I just call my best friends assassins? Because they don’t kill people for fun. They do it for the greater good. They are agents. That’s right, not assassin, agent._

She is pulled out of her runaway train of thoughts when a hand hits her red clad bottom. The small spank wasn’t enough to hurt her but it did make a crisp sound that pulled her out of her nervous internal ramble.

Felicity’s first instinct is to look indignant as she proceeds to scrunch her face up and glare at the party who had dared touch her derriere. She stops herself just in time and manages a polite squeal as she turns to face the offender, making a mental note that she will tweak his nose later when he is knocked out.

A surprise “Oh” almost forms on her lips when she finds herself face to face with two deep pools of blue on what was the most handsome face she had ever seen. And she had seen plenty of handsome faces being best friends with people like John Diggle and Ray Palmer. Ray looked like a Disney Prince for crying out loud. Or Superman depending on how you viewed him.

The face staring back at her was different. It may have been catalogue pretty but there was a sense of danger attached to it, attached to him that intrigued her.

He reaches out to touch her cheek and gives a command in Russian which Felicity vaguely works out to be _I like what I see, go wait for me in the next room_. Felicity was a jack of all trades, master of non when it came to languages but she was glad she knew enough broken bits of multiple languages to work this out. A lump forms in her throat as a wave of fear washes over her when she notices the way he’s looking at her intently. She’d been drilled on this by Lyla and had accepted there would be touching, groping and crude comments that she needed to go along with. However the way he was staring at her, a mixture of cold desire and fascination made Felicity want to panic.

She was supposed to be run of the mill attractive. An inconspicuous piece of decoration that would allow her to get her work done, without attracting enough attention to bring trouble to herself. However it seems like the first thing she has done, through no fault of her own, was to bring attention to herself.

“Is rare you like blond so much Oliver,” an older man responds in English which catches Felicity by surprise.

“Go and wait for me in the other room,” the guy who slapped her butt, Oliver, orders again.

Felicity nods and decides to take this as a positive development. They were a bunch of dangerous pigs and now that she’d caught the eye of one of them, at least she was off market to the rest. It would also be easier for her to let off the toxin to knock them all out from the next room and then it didn’t matter who had designs on her because they would all be out for the count.

***

Felicity swallows the two toxin antidote tablets, wishing she had some water to wash them down. She sets the timer on her stopwatch and waits for exactly 120 seconds to pass before she makes her next move.

She pushes the door open and as expected is greeted by the sight of slumped bodies in the room. Four. There were four slumped bodies. Not five as it should be.

Sitting casually on the crimson velvet couch was Oliver with what appeared to be a hint of amusement in his eyes. Eyes that were trained directly at her.

“Oh frack,” Felicity mutters as her hand dives for the tranquiliser gun that she has strapped to her thigh.

“Don’t worry Felicity he is one of us,” John’s reassuring voice comes alive in her ear. “You were reacting very naturally when his presence was discovered so I made the decision not to tell you at that moment.”

Suddenly John’s tone morphs into one of irritation. “Tell Queen he’s gone off script and should be in whatever hole Waller ordered him to be in. What the hell is he doing here? He could have really messed you up.”

“You’re off script, could have ruined things for me and should be in a hole,” Felicity quickly recites at the still ridiculously handsome Oliver who is now sauntering towards her.

She brushes past him and starts to feel around under her dress for her tools and gadgets. Oliver cocks his head and smiles at her, a small smile that is full of fascination with a touch of amusement.

“Do you mind?” Felicity snaps at him. “Can’t a girl have some privacy to remove tools from her bits without you staring at her?”

He lets out a full blown chuckle at this comment which earns him a huff of discontent from Felicity who has now retrieved all her gear and was assembling things while tapping away furiously on a tiny tablet.

“Look whoever you are, I have no idea what you’re doing here and I have no time to entertain you so just quit staring and let me work.”

His face falls as her eyes do not leave her work for one minute.

“Felicity Smoak. Hi I’m Oliver Queen.” He crouches down and extends a hand while smiling charmingly at her.

“Nice to meet you Oliver. Don’t want to be rude but first field mission so I am very stressed here. Just let me get this done ok.”

“I heard through the grapevine that Waller was sending some nerdy kid out into the field so decided to make sure you would make it out alive,” Oliver says with a shrug, suddenly looking a tad defensive. Whatever reaction he was expecting, it clearly wasn’t this one from her.

“Trained by Lyla. John is crazy paranoid and has me covered. You should probably go back and resume your cover for your mission,” Felicity informs him, still not taking her eyes off her work.

Out of the corner of her eyes she notices his shoulders slump. Letting out a quick sigh as she finishes programming her bugs, Felicity looks up and smiles kindly at him.

“Look I know you meant well. Thank you. I am very jittery, first time and all so you caught me by surprise. I appreciate the kindness, I really do but John and Lyla would never let anything happen to me.”

“I’ll keep a lookout for you until you’re done?” he offers with the air of an eager puppy that has Felicity intrigued. That air of danger she thought she spotted earlier, the intensity, it was there she hadn’t imagined it. So where has it gone and why was the man standing in front of her now so different, so suddenly.

“Thank you that will be helpful,” she informs him cordially with a bright smile. This was neither the time nor the place to delve into the inner workings of Oliver Queen whom she knew nothing about.

***

“Felicity, are you done? If you’re not done we’re going to have to abort. There was a freak fire in the club upstairs and the minions are heading down to look for their bosses. You need to get out of there.”

“John I have two minutes left.” The sudden urge to panic and throw up and the same time surges within her but Felicity is determined to stay and get the job done. She couldn’t bear the thought of Waller’s sneering face if she failed to deliver. Circumstances, even extraneous circumstances were not something Waller cared about and although Felicity knew she represented a different kind of value to ARGUS there was part of her that needed to succeed on this mission. She was going through what she had coined a “quarter life crisis” and was in some dire need to prove that she was adaptable and multifaceted.

“Felicity you need to be alive and for that to happen you need to get out of here,” John orders her over comms.

“They have seen my face. I will never be able to set foot in here again.”

“You have planted the bugs, just let go of the data.”

“John I am so close to getting all the data. I can’t.”

“I’ll cover you.” Oliver nods at her reassuringly as he reaches out to give her shoulder a squeeze, the intense look returning on his face once more.

“Thank you,” she mouths at him and nods.

“Get behind the couch,” he orders before darting off.

Felicity does what she’s told and within a few seconds a hail of gunfire ensues.

“Felicity,” John panics in her ear. She tries to block him out and prays Lyla manages to stop him so that he doesn’t come storming in.

“Still alive. Oliver Queen promises to have me covered. Almost done,” Felicity tries to reassure him as she watches the drive inch from 97% to 98%.

Suddenly the gunfire stops just as her drives displays the long sought after 100%. Felicity pulls it out with glee, a huge smile forming on her face when she looks up to find Oliver holding out a hand to help her up, looking like he’d barely broken a sweat.

“We did it! I could almost kiss you,” she takes his hand and swings herself up, beaming at him.

“Why don’t you,” he smirks at her.

Felicity is about to utter a retort when Oliver’s expression rapidly transforms. The world blurs around her as she hears the sound of a hail of bullets. Somewhere amidst the chaos, Oliver has thown himself in front of her, shielding her with his body while desperately trying to shoot.

“Oliver,” she cries as he slumps into her after killing the last henchman.

“Felicity there is an extraction team. You need to get to the east side of the building. The path is clear for now you need to move quickly.” John hesitates for a moment as if he has more to say but doesn’t want to continue with the next sentence. He doesn’t need to as another voice takes over.

“Miss Smoak, you are to move quickly right now and on your own.” Amanda Waller’s voice is unmistakable.

“But Oliver. He’s injured,” Felicity protests.

“Mr Queen should have minded his own business and stayed undercover. He got himself into this and now I expect him to extract himself out of it. Move at once Miss Smoak.”

“Like hell I will,” Felicity snorts as she violently shuts down her comms.

“Frack, you’re heavy,” she mutters as she runs her hands all over Oliver’s body to search for any weapons she can use. Of all the crazy things that have happened in her life she really was going to bust out of a mob building whilst lugging a giant man as she shoots her way out. She’d be laughing hysterically right now if their lives weren’t in mortal danger.

“I thought there was something between us but is this really the time to act on it?” Oliver smirks at her, despite dripping blood and breathing heavily. Oh well at least he’s still alive enough to be smarmy Felicity consoles herself.

“Really? This is the time to flirt?” she rolls her eyes at him.

“Can you still shoot? I am a reasonably good shot but observations skills are not so crash hot so likely they’ll see me before I see them to shoot at them. Can you stay with me? We just have to make it to the other side.” She cups his cheeks with her hands and gives them a hearty squeeze.

“We can do this ok? You just need to work with me Oliver.”

“I’d tell you to leave me but from what I’ve seen of you that would just be wasting precious time and get us both killed.”

“Yup,” Felicity answers crisply. “This is good start. You’re obeying me which is a really good start.”

“Hey I normally listen to no one so you’re special,” Oliver quips back.

“Really? Again? Not the time,” Felicity slaps him before wincing as he doubles over in pain.

“Let’s go. And if we die it was nice meeting you Oliver Queen.”

***

“Never, never would I ever have thought that someone yay big would be so trigger happy,” Oliver puffs as Felicity drags him into the van John had waiting for them.

“Hey don’t judge me Mr I-went-under-cover-with-the-Russian mob,” Felicity mock glares at him before smiling a huge relieved smile.

“We made it out alive, I got the data, you’re not dead. It hasn’t been a bad day.”

“You’re a good shot,” Oliver grins at her looking impressed. He winces and Felicity at once flutters to his side, placing a hand on his chest.

“Hey you can’t die on me now ok. We got out and you’re going to be patched up.”

“Don’t worry Felicity I’m not going to die. You owe me at least one date for helping you complete your mission. I’ve got to be alive to claim it.”

Felicity huffs at the audacity of the man as he stares at her with those piercing blue eyes, a tiny smirk on his lips.

“I owe you? Who decided to show up out of nowhere, throw me off kilter and then made me defy Waller to save him?”

“But I took a bullet for you,” he whines at her looking so boyishly hurt Felicity can’t help but smile at him again.

“Okay bullet verses you not giving up on me and dragging me out. How about I owe you three favours and you owe me one date?”

“How did you even come up with the math for that ratio?” Felicity bursts out laughing.

“I am terrible at math. Always have been,” Oliver dead pans.

“It’s a deal,” Felicity nods at him and holds out a hand.

Oliver takes her hand and shakes it. Instead of letting it go when he’s done he cradles it and closes his eyes, causing Felicity to shake her head at his apparent shamelessness.

***

“You look amazing tonight. Hot date?” Lyla gives her friend a little wink as she makes Felicity twirl around so she can get a full view of Felicity’s skin tight aqua coloured dress.

“I may have raided ARGUS’s clothing supplies,” Felicity answers with a twinkle in her eye.

“So you and Oliver Queen huh,” Lyla teases in a singsong voice.

“It’s just a bit of a silly joke whereby he thinks I owe him because he took a bullet for me,” Felicity tries to down play the situation despite internally bubbling with excitement and happiness. It had been a while since she felt like this. No she wasn’t one of those jaded people who had given up on romance, quite the opposite in fact. It was simply that despite giving herself ample chances, she’d never found that heart thumping, butterflies in the stomach feeling from the few men she’d dated. Plus spending your days in a well-lit basement at ARGUS did not provide many opportunities for a roaring social life.

“You don’t really know this guy Felicity. None of us do. His file is completely redacted and Waller had him buried undercover in Russia before he decided to go rogue and make himself known to you. Oliver Queen was a ghost before he signed up for ARGUS and even then he hasn’t got a traceable history like the rest of us.” To say John was a skeptic about the Oliver situation was an understatement.

“How many of us have clear cut histories Johnny?” Lyla reminds him softly.

“It’s just dinner,” Felicity smiles gently at John who’d been overprotective of her since the day her nervous 19 year old self was sent to walk him through the tech for a mission he was in charge of.

What ensued was a surprisingly normal and close friendship, despite their place of employment. The Diggles basically adopted her as their little sister and together they formed one little family both in and out of ARGUS.

Although there was a part of her that wanted to protest that she was big girl who could take care of herself, Felicity held her tongue. John made it his never ending mission to watch out for her and a date with a mysterious agent was always going to set his teeth on edge.

To be fair Oliver was indeed mysterious. It was part of his appeal. Something that she had no intention of confessing to John.

“Have fun,” John kisses the top of her head before muttering “But keep an eye on him. Maybe do a little digging if the information is not forthcoming.”

“Johnny,” Lyla protests in shock.

“Oh come on you feel the same, you just don’t want to be the bad guy.”

“I love you both. I’m going to be fine. I made it back from a mission where there was a gunfight. Dinner at an Italian restaurant with Oliver Queen is nothing to worry about.”

Felicity blows them kiss before walking to the elevators.

***

“You are certainly dressed for the occasion.”

Oliver was annoyed by Nyssa’s sudden presence however he was not surprised.

“Are you here for a reason or just to provide commentary on my attire? The last time I checked I know how to dress myself for dinner with a woman.”

“I am here to remind you of the stakes Al Sah Him. You should tread carefully and prudently.”

“I care about the fate of the world as much as you do Nyssa. Why do you think I agreed to work with you?” Oliver fixes his tie, purposefully avoiding eye contact.

“Your selection of target concerns me. You understand that there will be a significant amount of collateral damage? I am not entirely confident that you will be able to walk away from Ms Smoak when the time comes.”

“You’re projecting. After tracking Felicity you have doubts about whether you could betray someone like her so you’re jumping to the conclusion that I will feel the same.”

Oliver taps his foot impatiently. He wasn’t in the mood for Nyssa’s long-winded, ominous warnings and words of wisdom. He wasn’t in the mood for any type of discussion about Felicity and what his future with her or lack thereof would entail. Deep down he knew how this was going to play out but that didn’t mean he wanted to face it head on right now.

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He will protect her. How was he going to save the entire world if he couldn’t protect one woman? He had to find a way. And he will.

“Just remember the fate of the world relies on you being able to do what needs to be done. Felicity Smoak is bright, beautiful and possesses a pure heart. You are right I would not wish to hurt someone like her. But we cannot endanger millions for one Felicity Smoak.”

“Are you done yet?” Oliver asks tersely. “Because right now the fate of the world relies on me having a successful date with Felicity.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hallooooo
> 
> Thank you for your lovely response to the first chapter! I AM SO HAPPY PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY READING THIS!!!
> 
> I adore you guys for humouring me! Hope you all stay with me for this one last fic together.
> 
> Hope you like chapter 2 and don't all run off on me!
> 
> As the story gets more nuts I will endeavour to explain myself, the original source material and my train of thought to you! 
> 
> Yes I know it is sketchy when a writer needs to explain herself but you might all think I am on crack if I don't do this for this particular story. Goodbye My Princess (the source) was ridiculously tear inducing and dramatic with a very dubious male lead (who was portrayed brilliantly so came off a lot more likeable than he really should be). As I mentioned in Chapter 1 I had to work really hard to Olicitise the main characters.

Oliver steps into the restaurant with what is an undeniable spring in his step. A buoyancy that cannot be held down by the negative, dark thoughts running through his mind. Thoughts that he’s desperately trying to run from, telling him he has no right to live in this temporary fantasy that he has constructed for himself.

His breath hitches when he spies Felicity sitting at the table. Beautiful and poised, yet endearingly animated as she examines the breadbasket with glee, carefully peering at each bread roll and stick. She’d refuse his offer to pick her up insisting that it was more convenient for her to meet him after work.

He’d acquiesced, quashing down that macho part of him that wanted to be gallant and sweep her off her feet. Of course there was going to be other chances.

 _What use is there in being gallant if you are only planning to use her?_ The dark voice in his head jeers at him as he watches Felicity.

Oliver grimaces in an attempt to exorcise the taunting voice of his conscience out of his mind. A girl like Felicity might not even be interested in a guy like him try as he may. And if he was lucky enough to earn her trust and more, he would make it up to her. He would explain everything and spend the rest of his life making it up to her. But right now he needed to take a step back. One date and he was getting ahead of himself.

“Hi,” he says, giving Felicity a shy little wave and is utterly delighted when she stands up to give him a hug.

The embrace feels nothing like what Oliver expects. Tension, heart palpitations, the exhilaration of being touched by this woman. Yet none of those feelings come to life. Instead Oliver finds himself floating in the comforting cloud of her embrace. Felicity is soft, warm and feels like home. Like his happy sanctuary.

He leans into the embrace for far longer than appropriate and lets out a soft contented sigh.

“Are you…are you purring?” Felicity whispers playfully in his ear.

“So what if I am?” Oliver murmurs, snuggling into her. Her hug has rejuvenated him, helped him find his footing so to speak. He was bold, turning this greeting into a snuggle and not caring at all what everyone must be thinking of his display.

“I am flattered but you actually sound so comfortable I’m afraid you’re going to fall asleep on me. Now that would be very bad as far as first dates go.”

Oliver lets out another contented sigh before he reluctantly pulls himself away from her but not before stealing a kiss from her cheek.

Felicity flushes a delightful shade of peaches and cream as he helps her to her chair, looking even more mesmerising than she had previously.

***  
  


“So what do two agents talk about on a date? Have you ever dated another agent? I know you dated a lot of models in your pre ARGUS life and your thing with the two sisters that led to your super ARGUS Agent lifestyle but what happened after you entered this field of work?”

Felicity was well aware that she was babbling and heading for a train wreck of sorts but now that it was out in the open it seemed better to just keep going and get it over and done with.

“You looked me up?” Oliver asks looking more alarmed than he meant too. If course she would look him up. She was the best hacker in the world and his files were exactly what he wanted people to see. Yet somehow the thought of Felicity boldly running searches on him made Oliver uneasy.

“Yeah do you blame me? I didn’t even know you existed until you smacked my butt and leered at me out of nowhere one day in Russia. And then you took a bullet for me and asked for a date. Any sensible girl would look you up wouldn’t she?”

“I can’t argue with that,” Oliver smiles at the earnesty on her face. “But I’m going to have to lodge a protest for unfairness. You have the skills to hack into my files. I can’t hack into yours.”

“Well what do you want to know? I think I can answer a few questions in exchange for me knowing the bare bones of your history.”

“Only a few?” Oliver teases. “You at least had a few documents to read from.”

“Hey we both know ARGUS employee files are not exactly accurate in documenting our pasts,” Felicity quips back. “But what do you want to know? I’ll answer I promise.”

“How did a girl like you end up working for ARGUS?” Oliver asks straight away. He knew the answer already of course. The simple bare facts of it. But tonight he was hoping to gain an insight into why someone who is so full of light and laughter decided to devote her life to the dark underground bunkers of ARGUS.

“Misspent youth,” Felicity answers with slightly falling smile, one tinged with regret.

“Hmm let me see, young rebel hacker who got caught by Waller and cut a deal?”

“So you know already?” Felicity smiles knowingly at him.

“I know the how, I want to know the why?”

“Girl gets scholarship at MIT, girl meets boys, girl dreams of changing the world with boy, girl creates super virus, boy uses super virus, FBI comes knocking, boy supposedly goes to jail for girl, Amanda Waller comes knocking….” Felicity pauses and looks away from Oliver’s gaze momentarily.

“And that is how I ended up in the basement at ARGUS.”

Suddenly she blinks and her look of wistfulness is replaced with a bright sincere smile.

“It wasn’t all bad though. I met John and Lyla and then through a complicated set of adventures I met Ray. They are all my family. The kind of family I never dreamed I would have.”

“Supposedly goes to jail?” Oliver can’t help but press her further on this point. Although he had all the sordid details on Cooper Seldon he wanted to hear them from Felicity directly. It was as if his conscience was tormenting him, forcing him to find out how the ex boyfriend’s betrayal had affected her and would continue to affect her thereby painting him a picture of his own eventual betrayal.

“He pretended to hang himself just before sentencing. I was devastated. I blamed myself until a few months later when Waller waltzed in and casually handed me an envelope of evidence showing Cooper was very much alive and living his best life with the NSA.”

Oliver wanted to say something, felt he should say something but Felicity stops him.

“I don’t want to dwell in the past anymore. I’ve closed that chapter a long time ago and haven’t thought about it in a long time. In some ways Waller did me a huge favour. I can tell you that between mourning and guilt verses anger, anger is much easier to live with and recover from.”

“I’m sorry I made you relive it tonight,” he says softly reaching over for her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.

“I have a tendency to shut away any unpleasantness. It probably did me a world of good to recall it for what it was.” Felicity smiles and shakes her head. “But no more tonight. I promised you a date, I really shouldn’t keep talking about my rebellious youth.”

“I’m glad I learned a few things about you tonight.”

***

“You never did tell me what happened to your dating life after you entered this line of work,” Felicity reminds Oliver playfully as they munch on their ice cream cones. Wanting to escape the confines of the restaurant they’d opted to skip dessert and Oliver treated Felicity to a double scoop of mint chip instead.

“Helena Bertinelli,” Oliver confesses and then winces as he catches Felicity’s raised eyebrow.

“That’s…a lot more colourful and interesting than my life,” she teases him with a twinkle in her eye and Oliver knows she’s more bemused than ruffled by this revelation.

“It’s just…” Felicity is really trying to hold back giggles now. “I was tasked with interrogating her once, well not interrogating, just asking her questions and she was very…how do I put this nicely…crazy. Absolutely bonkers.”

She looks thoughtful for a second before smiling enthusiastically at him, “I did managed to be the most successful person in extracting information out of Helena though.”

“You would,” Oliver nods solemnly. “Helena was a dark soul. Your light and comfort would have offset that part of her momentarily.”

He’s gazing at her now, his eyes a mixture of tenderness and adoration, leaving no doubt as to how he viewed Felicity who blushes profusely under the dim lamplight and avoids his gaze.

***

“May I come in?” Oliver asks Felicity, taking both her hands in his.

“For dessert?” Felicity responds with an impish grin on her face.

“I…uh…dessert…wasn’t ice cream dessert? You want more dessert? You go in first and I can try to look for a patisserie.”

“Oliver, I’m the one who usually speaks in sentence fragments?” Felicity grins at him in amused delight.

“You said dessert…I umm don’t know…dessert.” He’s staring at her dumbly now, wishing someone, anyone, hell even Damien Darhk would come and create a black hole to swallow him up.

“Oliver do you want to come in for dessert or not?” Felicity asks him with a mock frown on her face.

“Yes!” Oliver yelps, his face growing red hot when he realises what a fool he must look like.

“Okay. You come in and make yourself a drink,” Felicity advises him kindly as she nudges him gently through her front door. “I’m going to freshen up and I will see you in a bit. For dessert.”

Felicity gives him a lopsided wink that ends up looking like she’s blinking furiously which causes Oliver to beam at her, her adorableness calming his frazzled nerves.

Once Felicity leaves the room Oliver begins in examine the layout of the land. There is an assortment of colourful, yet tastefully mismatched furniture. He wanders over to her kitchen and smiles when he sees an array of mugs, obviously collected over a long period of time.

A number of very green and healthy looking pot plants were littered haphazardly around the place leaving Oliver surprised. He did not figure Felicity for a green thumb.

He stops in his tracks when he reaches the display cabinet. It was crammed with plush pandas in all kinds of sizes and shapes, each one in mint condition.

“Aren’t they cute? I’ve always loved them but I only had a few. Over the year my friends starting buying them for me whenever they saw one I didn’t have. I’ll never forget the day Lyla came back from a mission, with bullet wounds but a pristine gift bag holding this little guy.” Felicity beams at him and wiggles her nose adorably as she points to a panda that was designed to look like a small log.

Oliver takes a quick glance and whips around to face his intended target. Yes Nyssa had been right all along. She was his target. The woman standing before him in a pair to tiny silk pink shorts adorned with gingerbread men and an equally skimpy pink camisole was his target no matter how he tried to spin it. And a poor choice of target at that. Because how was he going to get through this, survive this; complete his mission after an entanglement with her.

Felicity smiles at him. A gloriously warm smile that is laced with a dash of bashfulness. He shakes his head and takes a step back. He couldn’t do this. He was wrong. He should have picked someone else, anyone else. Not the cute little IT girl who he thought would be easy pickings to charm. Only now the tables were turned leaving him with a feeling of complete helplessness.

“I’m sorry Felicity,” he whispers. “I was wrong. I shouldn’t have come here tonight.”

Oliver leans in, kisses her on the forehead and makes a beeline for the door fleeing before he can catch a glimpse of her expression, which was equal parts bewilderment and confusion.

***

Felicity takes another sip of coffee and stares at the open packet of chips. She really must be losing it. She couldn’t even stress eat anymore and stress eating was her thing. Not that she should be stressed out by some random guy who shows up unexpectedly, interferes with her mission and then her life briefly before bolting for no reason.

This was not on her. It was on him. After all the man was shipwrecked for how many years and then buried somewhere within the ARGUS network by Waller. She was not going to let his actions be a reflection of her and undermine her confidence. She’d dated Ray, Barry and Billy. Two out of the three remained friends with her. One was even her best friend. She was not going to obsess about this. She’s in here, she’s early, she’s going work and then resume her life just as it was before some crazy guy that made her feel fluttering butterflies distracted her.

Felicity frowns a little to herself and then gives a little resounding nod to clarify her stance, her very rational stance on things.

“Felicity, hi.”

She may not know him well but she would know that voice anywhere. Yup. She did not know him well. Yet she’d let him come in. For dessert. Oh the mortification of it all. She was never going to let herself live this humiliation down.

Quickly Felicity darts under her desk, bumping her head in the process.

“Ouch. Frack,” she mutters, rubbing her forehead crossly. Her forehead in the spot that he’d kissed before he bolted. Who the hell kisses someone on the forehead before they bolt?

“Felicity are you ok?” Oliver’s concerned voice is by her desk now.

“I’m fine. Don’t come over.” Felicity dives even further under her desk. “I have things to do Oliver. Now is not a good time ok. Maybe never is a better time.”

Hmm perhaps that registered as a little bitter she thinks to herself.

“Felicity I’m sorry.” His voice is soft and he sounds contrite. And earnest. But no she wasn’t going to go for this particular brand of mint chip again.

“Nothing to be sorry about. It was one date. Sometimes things don’t work out. Now if you would please excuse me I have things to rewire. Can’t talk.”

A delicious scent of lemon and blueberries wafts over her nostrils as she spies a large muffin hovering under the desk.

“Are you dangling a muffin to entice me to talk to you? Really? What kind of girl do you think I am?”

Felicity takes in a deep breath, the muffin’s aromatic smells mellowing her slightly. It really was a very fat, mushroom like muffin. Full of muffin top and crammed with blueberries by the looks of it.

“Look I am so sorry,” Oliver’s beseeching voice floats under the table. “Will you come out? I couldn’t sleep all last night so I baked. Can you just come out, hear my apology and accept this basket? You never have to hear from me again after this I promise.”

Felicity grabs the muffin and crawls out from under her desk trying to muster as much dignity as she could summon. That is until she spies a woeful looking Oliver Queen who is clutching onto a giant wooden picnic basket looking a little lost and equally as pathetic. What was wrong with them?

“These are for you,” he thrusts the basket at her. “Blueberry lemon muffins, raspberry white chocolate muffins, lemon bars and cinnamon buns.”

“You had time to raise yeast?” Felicity forgets herself and looks momentarily impressed.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Oliver confesses, rubbing his neck.

“Felicity I am really sorry. I…I haven’t done this in a long time, maybe not ever. I…I don’t want to hurt you. After our date I looked at you and I thought this is it. This could really be it. And then you were standing there with your smile and your panda bears and it was all too much for me. I…I want an us. But I’m scared I will hurt you.”

Oliver exhales looking relieved after his confession, as if a huge boulder had been lifted off him.

“So you bolted?” Felicity glares at him before returning her gaze affectionately to the basket of goodies. He was sweet. She’d never had anyone do something like this for her. Especially someone like him.

“In my defence I did kiss you to show you how I felt about you,” Oliver offers looking sheepish.

“On the forehead,” Felicity tries to raise her arms but finds the basket too heavy. Straight away Oliver is at her side, trying to remove the weight of the basket from her. She swiftly declines, clinging onto it protectively.

“Can we start again? Please?”

“You want another date?” she eyes him warily.

“I want you,” Oliver responds firmly and decisively, placing a hand tentatively on her waist. When Felicity doesn’t pull away he wraps his other hand around and pulls her into him but not before prying the basket of baked goods from her and placing it on her desk.

He leans in and presses his forehead against hers.

“I am all in this time. 100%. No more being scared of anything.”

Felicity pulls her face away from his, her eyes gazing at him searchingly.

“My dad, he left when I was seven. Just upped and left one day. I never saw him again. Then there was Cooper. I don’t want to let two bad men cast a shadow on the rest of my life and I have fought very hard to keep an open mind and heart about life and love in general. If you can’t be sure, if you don’t know what you want, you need to step away Oliver for my sake as well as yours.”

“I will never walk away from you Felicity. Last night was a mistake. It will never happen again.”

He removes his arms from her waist and gently cups her cheeks.

“I want you Felicity,” he whispers as he pulls her in for a kiss. A heady kiss that makes her world spin.

***

“Absolutely not,” Oliver pushes the briefcase back towards Amanda Waller. His tone left no room for doubt as to his position on the matter.

“Mr Queen may I remind you that you should still be undercover in Russia right now if you hadn’t gone rogue and decided to suddenly abort your position to hit on Ms Smoak,” Waller snaps at him.

“And I need to remind you that I don’t owe ARGUS anything anymore. The Russian cover was me doing you a favour while I had nothing better to do with my life. Now that I’m ready to live again I want my life back. No more extended covert missions.”

“Does Ms Smoak know she’s responsible for this complete change of heart? Does she know what happened before? How you refused to come home to your friends and family? How you survived but completely left them behind.”

“What I have or haven’t told her, what I will tell her in my own time is none of your concern,” Oliver responds in a measured tone, as he gives Waller a sharp look. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten how I ended up on Lian Yu a second time.”

He stands up as a signal of the finality of their conversation.

“Even members of the suicide squad get released by you Amanda. I can leave ARGUS for good or make this place my base but like I said before I want my life back.”

“Very well,” Waller nods, as she looks at him with a mildly curious expression. “As you wish. I will assign Ms Smoak to any future missions you are a part of. Consider us even for you ending up on Lian Yu a second time.”

“I appreciate that Amanda.”

***  
  
“What’s this I hear about you assigning Oliver Queen to Rubicon with Felicity?” John Diggle storms in, hands on hips as he glares at Amanda Waller with an expression of complete incredulity on his face. He wondered if she’d gone completely mad. In some ways it was a classic Waller move. Irresponsible and completely reckless for someone who held the power of a nation at her finger tips.

Waller may be cold and calculating but sometimes the actions she took made Diggle wonder if she took to acting on random “hunches” whenever it suited her and had been exceedingly lucky with her guesses in the last decade.

“Rubicon is no longer any of your concern Mr Diggle. We have established it was not your specialty remember? You haven’t been involved in the project for two years now so there is no reason to burst into my office armed with this level of indignance and outrage.”

Waller doesn’t even bother to look up from her screen as she addresses him.

“Surely you of all people can see the dangers into putting someone like Queen on Rubicon? He’s been deep undercover with the Russian mob for years, hasn’t had any checks or reports in with ARGUS and yet he spontaneously decides to give up his cover in the mob to join an analyst on an adventure one day.”

John shakes his head in disbelief, wondering why Waller was not seeing this.

“At worst he has some sort of agenda and has calculated every single step along the way to ensure that he ended up exactly where he wants to be. On Rubicon. At best he has no agenda but is still a sporadic loose canon which is not someone I want Felicity saddled with.”

“You do realise that all your protests start and end with Oliver Queen’s involvement with Ms Smoak?” Waller sniggers at him.

“Keep your family matters with Ms Smoak to yourself Mr Diggle. This is a personal issue not an ARGUS issue. Your big brother concerns have no place here, especially when it comes to the subject of Rubicon.”

She pushes her chair away from the screen and folds her arms, looking bother defiant and smug.

“In fact I would wager Mr Queen is the best agent with the most vested interest in ensuring Ms Smoak’s safety while she works on Rubicon. You should be glad that I’ve upgraded the muscle guarding her on this project. We don’t usually have agents of Mr Queen’s calibre playing bodyguard. He’s both efficient and resourceful.”

Diggle shakes his head and decides it is pointless to say anything else on the matter. He’d just have to keep tabs on Oliver Queen himself.

***

Lara Bingally had finally had enough. This was the third time Cooper had failed to show up to meet her family and she was done with him. The peculiar moods swings, the superior attitude. No amount of money and security was worth it.

With that in mind Lara marches out of the elevators angrily towards Cooper’s front door, letting herself in the with spare key she’d fought so hard for. She really didn’t care anymore. She was here to tell Cooper exactly what she thought of him and throw that key back in his face.

Lara never did get her final hurrah at Cooper, because as she pushed the front door open she was greeted by the sight of Cooper lying crumpled on the floor looking like a floppy ragdoll, his neck having been snapped.

Lara would one day recover from the scene she witnessed and go on to marry a jovial, good-natured electrician who ran his own successful business, but right at that moment all she could do was scream.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Halloooo
> 
> I am back with your next update! I think I am ahead of schedule! Go me! Yay!

“Have you too much spare time available?” Nyssa drops down from his ceiling as soon as Oliver enters the front door.

It should bother him more, her popping out of nowhere but it doesn’t. He’s grown accustomed to it and at most it is a minor irritation, as he is never surprised by it. Nyssa will show up whenever and wherever she wishes. He did trust that she would not show herself to anyone she shouldn’t. That was the good thing about Nyssa. She had solid common sense despite her propensity for incredibly tedious ominous warnings.

“What do you take issue with now Nyssa?” Oliver asks nonplussed. He’d had a wonderful day with Felicity and nothing, not even Nyssa could dampen his mood.

“You are well aware that your time with Felicity Smoak is not permanent and no matter how much you wish for this to be your reality it does not make it so?”

Yup, there it was. Nyssa being her joyous self, lobbing a large rock to send ripples through his pond of dreams. Despite knowing deep down everything she said was the truth, Oliver didn’t need to hear it. Not when he was harbouring hope that he could somehow, someway make it work with Felicity when this was all over.

“What are you here for Nyssa?” he sighs, his good spirits evading him by now.

“You killed Cooper Seldon.” Her tone is accusatory, almost as if Cooper was a good person who didn’t deserve it.

“Yes I did,” came his casual response as he begins to unpack his grocery bags.

“It was not part of your task, nor was it in our plans to eliminate Cooper Seldon.”

“First of all you don’t get to decide what is or isn’t my task, just like I don’t interfere with your daily actions. As long as they don’t interfere with our plans to neutralise Ra’s’ power we do not need to consult each other.”

The action of packing away his flour, sugar, butter and other staples is oddly calming. Oliver finds himself pondering his immediate plans with Felicity rather than use his energy to have a war of words with Nyssa. There was no merit in antagonising Nyssa, they were in this together to try and protect innocent people after all.

“Cooper Seldon is one of the four people who have the ability to reprogram Rubicon. We don’t want him around in the event that Ra’s gets his hands on him. He’s a little weasel who would fold for his own benefit in a heartbeat. He needed to die.”

“Very well. How convenient that of the four you decide to eliminate Felicity Smoak’s ex boyfriend first.” Nyssa is slightly smirking at him. She’d roll her eyes at him but such petty actions were beneath her.

“After I killed him I raided his place. He had plans to launch some sort of an attack for profit on an unsuspecting city. I’ve given the evidence to Maseo to examine and destroy. If you need more convincing take a look yourself.”

Nyssa looks somewhat appeased and gives him a curt nod, however her eyebrows fly up as Oliver unboxes a brand new bread maker and places it on his bench, his face a combination of excitement and trepidation as he starts to assemble the appliance.

“Very well,” Nyssa tries her best to remain composed, the bread maker clearly rattling her normally unruffled-able self.

“You do realise that Felicity Smoak is also one of the four who can reprogram Rubicon. You know what that means if we are to apply your reasoning to her.”

“Felicity has constantly done her part to save the world and only ever wanted to do good,” Oliver whips his head around to face Nyssa. Every inch of his body tenses as he grips onto the bread pan, bending it slightly with the force exerted.

“I am merely pointing out the reality of the situation. I do not have any ill will against Felicity Smoak and do not plan to harm her. I cannot say the same for Father. Father wants Rubicon and those who have the ability to manipulate it.”

“I will destroy it,” Oliver says defiantly. “There will be no trace of Rubicon when this is over.”

“And how do you plan to handle its creator Felicity Smoak? Especially when Father comes looking for the next best thing once he realises Rubicon has been destroyed.”

There was genuine concern in Nyssa’s voice. Al Sah-him has clearly placed himself in an impossible situation, which he foolishly appears to think that he can extrapolate himself from. Nyssa did not enjoy killing and saw the loss of innocent lives as counter intuitive to everything she stood for, everything she and Al Sah-him had teamed up to achieve. However she would be lying to herself if she didn’t admit that things would be much easier and clear-cut had Al Sah-him managed to keep his wits about him and treat Felicity Smoak as the target she was supposed to be.

Her thoughts drifted to Sara. Sometimes life did not work out the way we intended. Sometimes love gets in the way and our best intentions and most logical actions evade us. Sara was a testament to that. Nyssa had no regrets there. She only hoped Al Sah-him’s story would end happily for him just as hers and Sara’s had. The odds were not in his favour. That was a fact he would do well to face.

“I will protect her. I will find a way to protect her. Just wait for me to work out what Waller’s plans are for Rubicon. I will find it and destroy it and then we will handle your father as we discussed.” Oliver is considerably less tense now that he realises Nyssa has no intention to take it upon herself to hurt Felicity.

“Very well,” Nyssa nods at him. She pauses, looks like she wants to say something but is restraining herself.

Oliver turns back to tinker with his bread maker. This innocuous action which conveys the depth of his naivety and misplaced optimism to what she knows will turn out to be an impossible situation for him prompts Nyssa to speak.

“I truly hope things work out for you Al Sah-him. Whilst I do not know much about Felicity Smoak I know she is the creator of Rubicon. She is a brilliant person and people like that often possess an iron will. Whatever solution it is you have planned I hope you put great thought into it.”

Nyssa shoots Oliver a knowing look, a look as if to say, “You poor deluded fool” before leaping off his balcony.

***

“Is this boring for you? Sitting around here keeping an eye on me while I code? Not sure why Waller has relegated you to babysitting. Normally they just have a uniformed agent outside my door.”

Felicity is typing at a thousand miles per minute. It amazes him how she could be building so complex and also chatter happily at the same time.

“First it is never boring with you and second it sure beats sitting around with a bunch of sweaty Russian men while being careful to prevent any offence lest a shoot out occur.”

“But you went from being undercover to babysitting,” Felicity protests eyes still glued to the screen, fingers flying.

“Trust me Felicity being undercover is not all it’s cracked up to be. It’s a place where deeply unhappy people go to hide from their lives.”

Felicity stops her typing at once and focuses her full attention on him. She doesn’t say anything, just pulls her chair up to him and squeezes his hands.

“Don’t worry that’s all in the past now,” he reassures her at once. “I actually requested to leave ARGUS but Waller put me on Rubicon with you instead.”

Felicity quickly hops up from her seat to give him a bright reassuring smile and a peck on the lips. He couldn’t give this up. He couldn’t give her up no matter how badly the odds were stacked against them.

“So tell me more about Rubicon. Do you hold a view on it? Knowing you, you must think something about this weapon you are creating.”

“Rubicon is a horrible idea that only someone like Waller could dream up.” Felicity’s brows are furrowed as a worried look crosses her face.

“To be honest I think it’s one of those ideas that should have never been conceived but now that it’s in full force there is no going back. Anything can be hacked, that’s the one thing we can rely on in life. She think’s it’s oh so clever to be able to disarm the entire world’s nuclear systems, well the reverse can happen. Nothing is unhackable.”

“Are you…are you the only person who is able to build it?” Oliver asks, trying to gauge the exact situation and level of danger Felicity was susceptible to.

“The only person who can build it for now. But once it’s built there are at least three other people who I think can hack it given enough time and resources.” Felicity’s typing slows down considerably, almost as if she were resisting the task that had been assigned to her.

“Could you have refused to build it for her at all?” Oliver asks tentatively unsure of how he felt about that particular scenario.

If Rubicon didn’t exist, Ra’s would not have sent him on this errand. He wouldn’t have forged a deal with Nyssa and Felicity would have gone on happily with her life as an ARGUS analyst, their paths never crossing.

“I could have and I considered it. But with something like Rubicon once the idea is conceived it’s all over. Someone may take a long time to build it but the idea is out there and they will work on it until they succeed. I felt that as Rubicon’s creator at least I would have some semblance of control over the code.”

“Are there many people who know about Rubicon or did Waller at least keep it contained?”

The less number of people who knew about Rubicon, the less blood there will be on his hands. Felicity was right. Once an idea like this was out, Pandora’s box had essentially been opened. The only way to put it back in the box was to terminate all those associated with the concept in the first place.

“As far as I know, and I have tracked all her correspondence, only the selected parties in this base.” Felicity’s eyes darken, a troubled look crossing her face. “But once I finish it, convert it into a chip and it gets handed over to Waller in its full glory, that’s when I worry. Who knows where it could and would end up? Waller is convinced she can keep something like this under control but I disagree.”

“She wants it in a chip?”

Stupid idea on Waller’s part but it would make things significantly simpler for him.

“Yup,” Felicity answers with a modicum of scorn in her voice. “Of course she wants it in the most portable and easy to steal form. It’s an implantable chip so no doubt she is going to hide it on someone. And whoever that agent is, they will be privy to full access of Rubicon.”

“Maybe it won’t ever get out,” Oliver reassures her in a casual tone. He didn’t plan on Rubicon ever seeing the light of day. It was one thing Felicity did not need to worry about.

***

“Felicity, earth to Felicity,” Oliver calls as he enters the office they now share.

Felicity lets out a yelp and practically leaps out of her chair.

“My gosh don’t you ever knock,” she snaps at him peevishly.

Oliver being absolutely taken back at witnessing this side of her for the very first time physically takes a step back. His face falls immediately, channelling the look of a puppy that had been unfairly chastised by its owner.

“I’m sorry,” Felicity sighs looking up at him apologetically. Her eyes were red, like she’d been crying.

“Felicity, what’s wrong?” Oliver asks engulfing her in a hug right away.

“Cooper’s dead. Cooper. My ex boyfriend. He’s dead.”

The hurt look in her eyes angers him and he finds himself struggling to school his features. He pulls her in for another hug, in an attempt to hide the seething anger that is now working its way through him. She hadn’t been in contact with Cooper for more than a decade. There were several boyfriends in between, yet the thought that she could still have fond feelings for Cooper, for any of her exes drove him temporarily insane.

“I loathed him so much for betraying me but I didn’t expect him to be dead,” Felicity says wistfully as she clings onto Oliver.

“We were young once, our whole lives ahead of us. Where did it all go wrong?”

“How did he die?” Oliver asks in a quiet, neutral tone.

“His neck was snapped and there was evidence of him planning some kind of cyber attack. I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m being so foolish about this. He was a rotten person to the core. I just…I always thought he would be one of those awful ex boyfriend stories I might bring up one day. I did not expect him to be dead and even more unscrupulous than I remembered him to be.”

“Shhhhh,” Oliver whispers, kissing the top of her head. “You’re full of love and forgiveness and although he hurt you, a part of you still hoped for the best for him. There is nothing wrong with that.”

 _Maybe there is a chance for me after all_ , the small hopeful voice in his head tells him. Cooper betrayed Felicity and left yet she still wished him well. He too would betray Felicity but maybe there was a chance she’d find it in herself to forgive him if the one thing he could do was stay and try to make it up to her.

***  
  
“Oliver I never figured you to be a blindfold kind of guy. Well I did but not at this stage in our relationship anyway so for you to go from zero to blindfold is a lot for a girl to take in.”

Oliver is carrying her bridal style, completely blindfolded, the reason being that he did want her to trip on her way up. She’s feeling a combination of utter exhilaration and nerves at the same time. Something she’d never felt before in her life.

Oliver quietens Felicity by placing a lingering kiss on her lips.

“Relax,” he whispers as he steps through his front door. “You’ll love it I promise.”

“Are we talking about the blindfold or the surprise? Cuz I thought I was here for a surprise but if we’re going to go ahead with the blindfold thing I think I’m ok with it,” Felicity says in one breath.

“We are hear for a surprise but you can have whatever you want as well Ms Smoak,” Oliver nuzzles her ear before placing her on his kitchen counter. He quickly unknots the blindfold and beams at her eagerly.

“Surprise,” he grins at her as she takes in the sight before her. Felicity faces alternates between shock and amazement before breaking into a peal of giggles as she spies the counter top stacked with all kinds of desserts. There was crème caramel, crème brulee, pies, giant chocolate chip cookies, donuts and a fruit platter thrown in for good measure.

“You are a very perplexing man,” she tells him when she’s recovered from her laughter. She wiggles her way closer to the food, her sunny yellow silk dress riding high up her thigh and dabs a swirl of whipped cream on top of a coconut cream pie for a taste.

“You seem a bit down lately about Rubicon and all the other stuff so I thought since I messed up our first dessert date, I would make it up to you.”

He leans in and kisses her, the kiss being more heated than he intended for it to be.

“Will you stay for dessert tonight Felicity?” he whispers with his lips still on hers.

Felicity not to be outdone wraps her bare legs around him and pulls him even closer to her, her arms twining around his neck as she kisses him back.

“Are you going to use the blindfold on me?” she purrs at him mischievously.

Oliver lets out an impatient growl before lifting her off the counter and carrying her off to his bedroom.

***  
  
“You know you didn’t have to move us to the bedroom. Nothing wrong with the counter,” Felicity says playfully as she rolls around a little on her side of the bed. She was feeling unabashedly relaxed and loose limbed. Oliver had been spot on. Dessert was exactly what she needed.

“Not after all the hours I spent working on that dessert spread,” Oliver wags a disapproving finger at her before grinning and pulling her on top of him. Felicity was irrepressible. And naughty. And he knew he could never let her go.

“I liked the blindfold,” Felicity whispers suddenly blushing a little, the light shade of pink on her cheeks causing Oliver to melt into a puddle of goo. How anyone could be so lively and adorable and sexy was beyond him.

He flips and rolls her under him, gently clamping down her arms with his.

“You shouldn’t have let me lure you into this apartment Felicity because I’m never going to let you leave now.”

Felicity merely grins as she nuzzles his nose and obliges when he leans down for another kiss.

***

“So you are alive and not held captive by Oliver Queen somewhere,” John strolls into her office. He’s joking but there is a certain amount of acidity in this tone, which tells Felicity that his wariness towards Oliver has not changed.

“John you are going to have to lay off on the cracks about Oliver. I know you care about me and he’s not the kind of guy I normally date but you’re going to have to try and accept Oliver because he’s not going anywhere.”

Felicity starts off sounding pretty fierce but finds herself softening as she watches John’s face which is etched with worry.

“I’m happy,” she sighs, pouting at him. “I am really happy. Isn’t that all you’ve ever wanted for me?”

John manages a reluctant smile as he watches the starry eyed girl before him. Felicity had a past. They all did. Happy, well-adjusted people did not find their way into ARGUS. Yet despite all that she managed to retain something most of them didn’t. An innocent optimism. The belief that there is a chance at happiness for all of them. It was as dangerous as it was wonderful. John hoped that nothing would ever extinguish that light from her and he was going to protect it at all costs.

“You are right. I do want you to be happy. And if he makes you happy I’m going to back off on the over protective big brother act.”

“I didn’t just come here to make digs about Oliver Queen I promise. I did come here with the intent to give you this.”

He places a giant latte on her desk and warm sweet smelling muffin.

“Butterscotch with butterscotch chips, no pecans.”

“Oh you are the best!” Felicity blows him a raspberry before diving for her hot beverage and baked good.

“So tell me how are things progressing between you and Oliver.” John pulls a chair up to sit near Felicity. “And I promise I will not lecture you no matter what you say.”

He knew it was no use to repeatedly express his concerns about Oliver Queen. The best thing he could do was to gain as much insight from the guy as possible and keep tabs on him.

***

“Found anything yet?” John asks impatiently as he hovers over Ray Palmer’s shoulder while Ray attempts to run a search on Oliver.

“Why are you so slow?” John huffs again as he moves away and begins to pace.

“Well the guy is an undercover ARGUS agent. It’s not like there is going to be a neat little folder with all the pertinent details about his past just waiting for me to access,” Ray says defensively.

He scans the results of the search before throwing his hands up in defeat. “Nothing. Not a single thing that you don’t know already. Maybe if you got Felicity to help she might have better searches but since you’re spying on her boyfriend I’m guessing that’s a big nono.”

“You can’t find anything at all?” John asks as if he would get a different response if he kept asking.

“There is one thing you can do if you’re worried about her,” Ray offers hesitantly.

“At this point short of eliminating him I am willing to try anything.”

Try as he might to be happy for Felicity’s newfound happiness there was an uneasiness John simply could not shake off. It was all too convenient the way Oliver had ended up on that mission. What made him decide to defy Waller on that exact day? John simply couldn’t accept it as a coincidence.

“We might not know about his past but I have a way we can know exactly what he is up to in the present,” Ray grins as he scans his retina and punches in the code to open his safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *whew*
> 
> Really had to work on Oliver's character here.
> 
> The male lead in Goodbye My Princess was a pretty toxic character despite his undying love for the female lead so I find myself working really hard to leave room for redemption later on. Why am I even doing this???
> 
> Slowly slowly! I hope I am able to do it.

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo how did we go???
> 
> Did you like it???


End file.
